Safety device for elevator-doors.



E. L. MSELBY L E. D. MENDENHALL. SAFETY DEVCE FOR ELEVATOR DOORS APPLoATmN ULEB MAR M1912 1,068,692. Patented July 29, 1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

`EDWARD L. MOSELEY AND ERNEST D. MENDENHALL, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS TO SAFETY APPLIANCE MANUFACTURING CO., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATOB'DOORS.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented July 29, 1913.

Application filed March 28, 1912. Serial No. 686,749.

To all whom 'it may concern:

vBe it known that we, EDWARD L. Mose- LLY and ERNEST D. MENDENHALL, both citizens of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Elevator-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety devices for elevators. C'

The object of the present invention is'toY tpoyide a simple, substantial and automatic lting device whereby elevator doors are locked closed in front of an elevatorshaft when. the elevator car is at any point in its shaft other than at a given floor.

It is also the object of the present inven- Ation to provide means for locking the doors to f l. vator shafts closed untill times when an elvvaror car is immediately at the floor on which the door is mounted; and particularly to provide a mechanism contro ling an electric circuitof such design and constructiorf' that when the door is opened to permit access or egress to or from an elevator car, that the electric current energizing the elevater motor will be 'cut out when the door v is being opened, and during the time that iso the door remains open and until it is finally closed and latched. y

The invention consists of the parts the,construction and combination of parts as hereinafter more .fully described and claimed, having refere eto the accompanying drawings, in whiclhm- Figure l is a plan vieil;1 of an elevator car operating in" a shaft with the invention shown diagrammatica'lly. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the elevator car, showing the bolt tripper. Fig. 3 is a sectional detailed view showing the doqr latch in operative locked ositionjn thesafety keeper. Fig. 4 is a ront elevation of the safety keeper with the face plate removed. l

In Figafl and 2 there is shown an ele@ vator ear 2, operating in a shaft, 3, of a building; there bein provided at one side of the shaft 3,' a wa l 4 having an bpening 5, across which may be adjusted an elevator door 6,"moucnted to slide across the opening 5 of the wall to close the same.

An important oeature of the present 1nvention 1s to providea mechanism which will automatically and safely lock thev door 6 1n closed position so that it cannot be ened unless an elevator car is standing at t e level of the floor on which the door may be locked.

In addition to the feature of automatically and safely locking the door closed, the invention consists in combining with the door locking mechanism a device operated by the door latch to close an'electric circuit in which is mounted the motor, the function of which is to drive or move the ele vator car 2. Y

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, there is shown as mounted at one edge of the door 6, a latch 7 pivoted on a fulcrum 8 and normally depressed by a spring 9; the latch beingso mounted on the door `l6, that when the door is closed over the opening in the wall the hook point 10 of the latch 7 will pass through a face plate 11, having an aperture 12 which is designed to receive the hook end 10 of the latch 7, as the door is closed to bring the latch in juxtapositionwith the face plate 11.

The lower edge of the aperture 12 in the face plate 11, which latter is attached to a keeper or box 13, adapted to be securely attached to or adjacent to a jamb 14 of the .elevator doorway, is at such a plane relaytive the door 6, that the hook end 10 of the @latch 7 will snap down inside of the keeper plate 11, by reason of the force of the spring 9 actingA onl the latch 7. The hook end 10, will enter the aperture 12 of the keeper plate 11 and snap downwardly, engaging the upper shoulder 15 of a slide 16 movable within the keeperv box 13 and norl mally projected toward the aperture 12 by the expansible spring 17 which surrounds a stem 19 secured onl the'slide 16 and being guidedin abaring 18. On the lower end of the plunge? 19 1s slidable a bar or 'plate 20, adapted when depressed-to engage Qontacts 21, secured on, an insulating base 22 in the keeper box 13. Surrounding 4the stem, 19, between the bearing, 18, and the bar, 20, is a spring, 18', said spring being on the opposite side of the guide from the spring, 17, one of these s rings being for the purpose of breaking t e contact when the latch is withdrawn and the other spring adapted to react against the contact bar.

I The Contact members 21 are connected to 'slfitable lead wires 23, in which may be connected the elevator operating motor, so that when the door 6, carrying the spring actuated latch 7, is pushed across the doorway the hook point 10 of the latch will pass in the aperture 12 and snapping over vits lower edge will, due to the force of the sprnv 9, depress the spring supported slide s otilder 15, thus depressing the switch plate 20 to carry it int electrical contact with the fixed contacts 21, thus closing the circuit through the wires 23 at this point. From this it will be seen that when the elevator car is in position at a given 'loor on which is mounted the door 6, the latter is closed with the hook 10 depressing the circuit closing devices, then the operator in the elevator car may operate the elevator switch so that he may operate the car.

When the car is at the floor'it engages an arm 25 pivoted at 26 on the side of the keeper box 13, and one end of which is connected as at27 to a locking bolt 28 which is mounted in one end of the keeper box 13 and which bolt 28 is formed with an indentation 29 at its inner end, which during the time that a car is at a given floor stands in coincidence with the aperture 12, so that the latch hook 10 may freely enter the aperture 12 of the keeper platell, and roject through or into the indent 29 of the bolt 28. There may be mounted on the car, a cam or shoe 30, which is adapted as the car approaches a certain floor to engage the arm 25 which is projected in the path of the shoe 30, by the spring 31 attached to the keeper box 13. There may be mounted on the contact end of the arm 25 an anti-friction roller 32, with which the shoe 30 will contact during its movement with the car 2 in the elevator shaft.

lrVhen the operator in the car brings the latter to such a position relative to a floor in a building that the shoe 30 of the elevator car will engage and depress the arm 25, the latter will be automatically operated by the movement of the car to withdraw the bolt 28 slightly from thc box 13, bringing the indentation 29 over the inwardly projecting hook 10 of the latch 7, at which time the operator may then press on the upwardly extendinc` part ofthe pawl or latch 7, to s0 actuate the latter as to bringr thc hook point 10 above the edge of the aperture 12 so that he may open the dooras the hook point l0 frees itself from vthe keeper plate 11. As soon as the shoe 3() on the elevator car operates the lever arm 25, and this in turn shifts the safety bolt 28, the spring 17 will tend automatically to artllatc the slide 1G to lift the inwardly projectingv hook l0 of the latch 7 and tending to break the circuit byMscparating,r the plato 20 from the stops 2l. lVhen the bolt 28 is shifted hy the lever 25, then the operator may swing the latch 7 on its .be broken and until the door 6 is a fulcrum 8 against the pressure of the spring 9, and before the side movement of the door 6 carrying with it the latch 7, the spring 17 will become eective to break the clrcuit by lifting the plate 20 from the contacts 21, thus making it impossible for the-car to be started when the door latch 7 is tilted about -its fulcrum 8 to sutliciently permit the spring 17 to actuate the slide 16. As the operator by pressing on the tiltable latch 7, moves the door 6 edgewise the circuit line 23 will 1n closed and the hook point 10 projected into the keeper box 13, and presses downwardly on the slide 16 to move the circuit closing p1at-n 20 into contact with its cooperative' contacts 21, it will be impossible to move the car, unless the latch point 10 is' permitted to enter the keeper box 13 and depress lthe slide 16 then when the circuit is closed by the plate 20 the operator may close the car switch to energize the elevator motor and move the car up or down the shaft.

In order to render itv impossible for any one to open the elevator door 6, unless the car is in position at its Hoon-the arm,25-

is provided and will automatically move under the impulse of its actuating spring 31 as the elevator shoe 30 moves upwardly or downwardly away from the operative endl of the lever 25. As the shoe 30 so moves away and the spring 31 actuates the lever j position adjacent the aperture 12 and over the hook 10, so that the lower flat edge 29 of the safety bolt 28 will ride over the adjacent inwardly projecting point v10 and effectually lock this in its lo'wermost position. Unless the elevator shoe 30 is moved away from operative contact with the lever arm 25, the spring 31 through the medium of the arm 25 will shift the safety bolt inwardl sutliciently to ride over the hook 10 to e fectuall retain this in position in the keeper box 13 ehind the keeper plate 11 and until the elevator shoe 30 again contacts with and actuates the lever arm 25 to shift the safety bolt 28 and carry the indentation therein over the hook point 10, it will be impossible to move the door or the latch.

Having thus described ourinvcptiomwhat we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. A door locking and circuitbreaking de` vice comprising a latch, a keeper casing witha shallow chamber and a keeper plate at one, l l side for the reception ot' the latch,`electr1c terminals in the chamber, a longitudinally extending' stem centrally arranged 1n the chamber and having' a part at one end en.

'minals when the latch actuates the stem, a

`the opposite faces of said guide, one for breaking the Contact when the latch is Withdrawn and the other reacting against the contact bar.

2. A door locking and circuit breaking device comprising a latch, a keeper casing with a shallow chamber and a keeper plate at one side for the reception of the latch, electric terminals in the chamber, a longitudinally extending stem centrally arranged in the chamber and having a part at one end enga cable and operable by the latch when in t ie casing7 and having at its opposite end a sliding contact bar movable against the terminals when the latch actuates the stemz a guide on the back of the casing for said stem2 springs surrounding the stem on the opposite faces of said guide, one for breaking the contact when the latch is Withdrawn and the other reacting against the contact bar, and a bolt movable into-one, side of the casing fory preventing the Withdrawal of the latch.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

EDlVAR'D L. MOSELEY. ERNEST D. MENDENHALL lVitnesses JOHN H. HERRING, GENEvlEvE S. DONELIN. 

